-The Hindustan Times After months of debate on whether juveniles accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder should be tried as adults, the government, it seems, has finally come around to the view that the issue of graded punishment should be considered. According to news reports, the women and child development ministry, after discussions, has agreed to the view that juveniles who are between 16-18 years committing heinous crimes should...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After doggedly turning down arguments for having a graded response to crimes by juveniles, depending on the gravity of their crime and the juvenile's age, the government is finally coming around to the view the juveniles above 16 years involved in heinous crimes, like murder or gang rape, should be tried as adults under the Indian Penal Code. The change in the outlook of the women...

-CNN-IBN Mumbai: The trial in the Delhi gangrape-murder case has set an example for other cases of crimes against women. Soon after the verdict, the Maharashtra Home Minister announced that the trial in the Mumbai gangrape case will also be fast-tracked. But an RTI query filed by CNN-IBN exposes the dismal records of fast-track courts. An assurance was made by the Maharashtra government soon after the photojournalist was gangraped in Mumbai's Shakti...

-The Hindu     Only the ‘principal offence' in an FIR gets into NCRB data The National Crime Records Bureau, India's official source of crime data, is systematically undercounting virtually every crime in India on account of a statistical shortcoming, The Hindu has learnt. The December 16 gang rape, which prompted much examination of data on sexual assault in the country, will not even figure in NCRB data on rape owing to this statistical flaw. The...

-The Hindu     Young offenders above a certain age who commit violent crimes should be prosecuted as adults On August 31, 2013, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) ordered that the boy who raped Nirbhaya, brutalised her with an iron rod, pulled out her intestines and then cleaned up the bus and made tea would go virtually free by sentencing him to only 28 months in a remand home as eight months of the...